Safety-envelope



terns JAMES MALONE, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO J. \V. GRAHAM, OF SAME PLACE, AND V. C. PAYNE, OF MAYSVILLE,

KENTUCKY.

SA-FETY-ENVELO PE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 463,906, dated November 24, 1891.

Application filed July 30, 1890- Serial No. 360,354. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES MALONE, of Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement-in Safety-Envelopes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to envelopes used for holding money, currency, bonds, or other valuables; and its object is to produce an envelope that, when sealed and folded, cannot be opened by steaming and the contents thereof cannot be reached by instruments inserted through the joints or seams without the palpable mutilation of the envelope. Such envelope, while applicable for various safety purposes or uses, will be found of special advantage to express companies, who are frequently robbed by having money packages, which are entrusted to them for transportation, weeded, or, in other words, the contents of the packages abstracted by means of instruments inserted through the seams or joints of the envelope, by which the contents are withdrawn without breaking the seal or damaging the envelope.

The invention consists in a blank of peculiar construction, as hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 represents an inside face view of the envelope-blank'ready for being folded; Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are views showing successive stages in the folding and securing of the envelopes, Fig. 4 representing the envelope ready for the reception of contents; and Fig. 6 shows a back view of the completely closed and sealed envelope.

A in Fig. 1 of the drawings indicates the envelope-blank, made in one piece of paper or other suitable material, and the marginal configuration of which leaves a front body part 1, having side wings 2 2, which are extended to form a flap portion 3, having sloping sides 4 4, and so that this flap portion 3 has projecting from it intermediately of its when closed, and the portions marked 8 throughout the several figures of the drawing indicate where mucilage or adhesive material is applied to different parts of the envelope when closed.

To cement or secure and fold the blank the latter is first folded on the longitudinal line b, which separates the front body part 1 from the back body part 6. This brings the line 0, which divides said back body part 6 from the flap-piece 7, up to the longitudinal line (Z, and the outer longitudinal margin of the flappiece 7 up to the line c, which divides the flappiece 3 from the sub-flap piece 5. Such is the position of the parts shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Besidestheselongitudinalfolding or dividing lines I), 0, cl, and 6 there are other cross or dividing folding-lines ff, extending from the ends of the base of the flap 7 to the junction of the sloping marginal sides of the flap-piece 3 with the line 6, also diagonal folding-lines g g, h 7m 11, and 70 is, forming, respectively, end and crossing folding portions or flaps 9 9, 1O 10, 11 11, 12 12, 13 13, and 14 14. The mucilage or adhesive material 8 is applied on the inner side of the envelopeblank to the marginal portions of the flap 7, the flap or folding portions 9 10, and the outer marginal portion of the sub-flap 5, and on the opposite or outer side of the blank to the folding portions 14, and, if desired, along the base of the diagonally folding portions 11, adjacent to the lines h h, such mucilage serving to adhere said folding portions or flaps, when turned over or down, to the adjacent parts with which they necessarily come in contact as the blank is continued to be folded or closed. After the parts have assumed the position shown in Fig. 2 the parts 11 and 10 are folded over on the lines It, as shown in Fig. 3.

This completely covers the end flaps or portions 9. Next fold over, on the lines f, the I00 folded-over portions 11, including the end flaps 9, parts 10 12, and sloping side portions of the flap 3, and afterward fold down or over these the sub-flaps 5, all as shown in Fig. 4. This covers the inner flaps, protecting them from interference by instruments inserted from the outside; and here it should be remembered that the gummed end flaps 9, gummed portions 10, gummed lower or backflap7, and gummed sub-flaps 5, are all made to firmly adhere to the surfaces on which they are folded. The diagonal flap-like portions having mucilage on their backs, with their adjacentfolded-over portions 18, are then turned down or over on the lines 70, and afterward the upper folded portions turned down or over on the line (I, the summed backs of the flap portions 1-iadhering to the back of the envelope, after which the envelope is secured by seals 3, as shown in Fig. 6. In this construction of envelope both the bottom and end flaps are equally and similarly secured. The primary joints or seams are first closed with adhesive material, rendering the contents as safe as in any ordinary envelope, independent of the subsequent folds. Also, by the subsequent folds the first-named joints or seams are so covered and protected that they cannot be subjected to the process of steaming and are beyond the reach of instruments inserted from Without. Again, all the edges of the envelope are of double thickness and all the corners thereof of quadruple thickness, thereby making a strong and durable as Well as safe envelope.

As envelopes are often robbed by deftly splitting one of their exposed edges With a sharp knife, removing parts of the contents,

and closing the aperture by touching the edges of the split slightly with mucilage and cementing them together again, I provide against this possible risk or give still further security to my envelope, as follows: I protect the edges of the envelope, or such of them as when the envelope is folded and closed are accessible from the exterior, by smearing" the interior of the envelope at such parts with a non-adhesive substance, so far as the contiguous surfaces are concerned. The layer on of said substance thus applied, as shown in Fig. 1, I make of gum shellac dissolved in alcohol in equal parts or thereabout. This preparation can be appliedas readily as mucilage and dries about as quickly. WVhen dry, it is impervious to Water, and paper treated with it cannot be united or stuck together With the ordinary com merclal pastes or mucilage. Consequently the application of this Water-proof material prevents the exposed edges of the envelope from being split and rescaled or united again.

Having; thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The herein-described envelope-blank, consisting of the back body portion 6,hav1ng end flaps 9 and the side flap 7, and the front body portion 1, having side Wings 2, projecting beyond the flaps 9 and extended in c0nnection with the body portion to form the flap, 3, having the dovetail-shaped flap 5 projccting from it, as specified.

JAMES MALONE.

lVitnesses:

J. P. BORUFF, Gno. S. STEIN. 

